Job Search Central

From Vassar to the Discovery of the Higgs Particle: Sau Lan Wu's Commencement Address
by Magdalene Chan, Science, Industry and Business LibraryJune 2, 2014

Share

On May 25, 2014, professor Sau Lan Wu addressed the 150th commencement ceremony of Vassar College. She is the first research scientist in 23 years and the first physicist ever to deliver a Vassar commencement address.

Professor Wu's commencement address is her story of blossoming from Vassar education, sustained by fierce perseverance. Her journey from Vassar to the discovery of the Higgs Particle is truly interesting and inspiring.

Sau Lan shared with the audience the joy of the discovery of the Higgs particle, which is a particle needed to explain how elementary particles get their masses. Elementary particles are the building blocks of the Universe. The Higgs particle is responsible for all masses, from electrons to humans to galaxies. Without this particle, there would be no atoms, no molecules, no cells and of course no humans, Sau Lan asserted.

Sau Lan was born in Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation. Having finished high school in Hong Kong, she was awarded a full scholarship by Vassar College to the United States where she had to make difficult adjustments. She talked about her struggle and trumph in the past decades and asserted that when obstacles strike, you fall down and you get back up.